i am doing this solo so if anyone would like to meet up prior and ride keep me company that would be sweet!! i think i am in the under 4.5hours wave.hows everyones training been? i havent ridden kinglake in about 5 weeks so am going to be rusty, so guess i'll see how i go!

zakka101 wrote:i am doing this solo so if anyone would like to meet up prior and ride keep me company that would be sweet!! i think i am in the under 4.5hours wave.hows everyones training been? i havent ridden kinglake in about 5 weeks so am going to be rusty, so guess i'll see how i go!

Not sure that you will need to meet up with people, last year there were plenty of friendly people out there that will chat.

Doing solo as well but in the under 4 hrs group. I seem to have misplaced my email but is there any kind of registration or anything beforehand or do you find the starting group your in and make sure you have all the stuff from the mailout on?

i think the only thing you need that isn't in your mailout, is your allocated starting time. under 4 hrs you'll be at 7.40am. A mate who's done it before reckons try to be there 20-30 min before your start time. I'll be 10 minutes behind you, in the 4.5hr group!

danny the boy wrote:Doing solo as well but in the under 4 hrs group. I seem to have misplaced my email but is there any kind of registration or anything beforehand or do you find the starting group your in and make sure you have all the stuff from the mailout on?

You don't have to do anything before hand. This is a recreational ride, the only thing you need to do is make sure you have your supplied kinglake 2012 jersey on (for medical, sag wagon and bike mechanic support), have you bib and sticker on. Other than that, turn up and because of the current forecast prepared to get wet!!!

Also make sure that you have appropriate layers on, last year a lot of people were caught out and as a result they ended up suffering from hypothermia because of how cold they were. Some of those people caught out were in the 4 and 4.5 hour groups.

if they have changed it to sunday, i am going to go to the you yangs yowie enduro, really wanted to ride it but only found out after i had paid for kinglake. shattered.but that'll suck if its on sunday, 115k then a bball final. worst ( ive done that before, but not a final just regular game ehhhh )

also marty you are right, there will be heaps of people around so it should be a good day all round.though ive never ridden in a bunch before so i will have to be cautious i guess....

Just a heads up, super sprint posted on their Facebook page that they maybe considering a postponement to the 7th. Personally I hope that they don't and they keep it on the 6th. Seems a lot of people posting on Facebook aren't happy about the change because they have commitments on Sunday and won't be able to make it. I'm in that situation myself.

I don't think that they will have anything to worry about and will leave the date as is, for the forecast charts on the BOM and the more recent update to the weather zone forecast as well as the 28 day rain forecast on weather zone I reckons the chances of last years weather is extremely unlikely and will only be light rain if we get any.

I wont lie I wanted to be somewhere else when coming down Melba Hwy. Could handle the showers but that part was a drenching for me. Dead wombat count at 37 and one roo, plus a couple of piles of manure near Flowerdale made for a pleasant morning on the bike. Happy that I finished under time but the start and an honour system for the KOM jersey need reviewing, lot of people seemed to be starting in groups they are not going to finish with.

agree with danny the boy, melba hwy was horrible. other than that, I thought it was a great day. despite the poor weather, i thoroughly enjoyed it. first time I've ridden in that sort of rain. 3 of us were in the 7.50am start, but got there late. one of my mates who rode it last year said the start was an improvement. last year they were sending 50 at a time, so the road was clogged from the word go. anyhoo, after a parma, (thanks to the owner of the whittlesea pub for re-opening the kitchen!) a beer, a coffee, and now the couch, i feel great

Yeah the weather was a huge improvement over last years ride, I ended up pulling out of the 2011 ride because the weather was that bad. Im not sure how but I managed to finish the 115km route in 5.5 hours which after starting a 8am was a welcome relief to finally get to the finish line with numb and stinging hands and feet i was that cold.

if we didnt have that constant rain after 12pm the descent back down to whittlesea would of been fantastic.

I only counted 2 wombats and 1 wallaby (looked too small to be a kanagroo, even a young one).

had a great day, was in the 750 wave, started off pretty good. just riding with whoever, pulled out a 2.5min PB up kinglake which i was stoked about, passed alot of people on the way up. had some guys holding my wheel for awhile but i eventually dropped them about halfway up. the rolling hills to flowerdale after kinglake was amazing, just enjoyed the sunshine ( yes, sunshine ) for a good 30 mins before pulling back up into humevale and suffering abit up that climb. just never seemed to end. descent into whittlesea was amazing, loved it ( have ridden it a few times ) and barely pedalled through.

all up, 115k in 4hr2min. was a good day in the saddle. the weather was okay, obviously could have been better but oh well. people were very friendly, i hope the people doing the 115k on the tandem bike had a good time!saw 8 wombats myself.

First attempt yesterday, managed 115km in 4 hr 31min. Enjoyed the route, the climb from Flowerdale to Kinglake West was a bit testing, mainly due to the rain which settled in but managed to get to the top to enjoy the descent down into Wittlesea.

Looking forward to ATB in a few weeks time, hopefully the rain stays away this year.

It was my first attempt yesterday also. I wasn't looking forward to it given the weather forecast. But it turned out to be much better than expected - good luck rather than good planning, and managed to avoid most of the rain although the roads were still wet in places.

I saw many wombats and smelt a lot more. Fortunately it wasn't a stinking hot day.

This was my first ride in the area and the hillls and scenery were very enjoyable. An unexpected highlight was the delicious cinammon fruitcake being given away by the volunteer caravan at the Glenburn rest stop (Would love the recipe for this one). Others and I were disappointed that the same fruitcake wasn't available at the Flowerdale or Kinglake West rest stops. The usual bananas, applies and lollies were still welcome energy boosters for the return back to Whittlesea.

First time for me too. Started riding about 3 months ago so not that much training under my belt.

Finished a bit after 1pm so missed my 5 hour goal by about 10 minutes or so. Stopped at every rest stop and stayed a bit longer at the last one at the drum fire trying to get some feelings into my fingers, I was struggling to use the brakes! So cutting those out I would have cruised it in but damn I enjoyed those stops

Kinglake climb was good, rode up at my own pace, didn't set the climb on fire but did a pb of 33 minutes. Considering I'm 6"4' and 115 kg on a $300 used bike from ebay, I thought that was pretty good.

The second climb was a different story. About 1 km up I was feeling good and was overtaking a fair few people who had blown and I got a bit cocky pushed a bit hard and blew badly with a km to go. At that point the rain started hard and I was off the seat doing about 8km/hr

Was doing 60km down the descent into Whittlesea following another rider by about 15 meters or so. It was absolutely pouring. We came around a slight bend and the guy infront has yelled and swerved to the other side of the road. I then saw a girl descending at about 20km/hr. I had no time and I swerved and braked at the same time. Fishied and slid for a good 2 seconds before getting past her and stablizing. All good but gave me one hell if a shock.

So glad to finish. As I was riding in I contemplated giving my bike to the first person I saw BUT after an hour or so I was so proud to have finished it i started planning for next year. Will hopefully have more training in my legs by then and destroy 5 hours!

Just wanted to shout out to the organizers and the CFA Volunteers who were awesome on the day!

AND it has finally begun, the attack of the wombats that has always been on the brink of happening. No idea that there was that many wombats total. They have been secretly increasing their numbers getting ready for the takeover. Only explanation!